The Christmas Truce
by Pte. Mighty Mouse
Summary: On December 25th 1914 the Christmas Truce brought together the opposing forces of WWI. Doctor Trafalgar of the German army and Piper Eustace of the British army become friends during this truce. Not Kid/Law but if you wanna see it that way that’s fine. WWI AU. Got the idea from Kid and Law’s real world countries assigned to them by Oda.
1. Christmas

It was Christmas Eve and doctor Law Trafalgar was walking through the trenches making sure all the men were healthy enough to keep on fighting. As he looked over each and every one of them he noticed a trend; they were not in poor health but in poor spirits. The Kaiser promised them the war would be over by Christmas and unless an armistice happened within the next few hours his promise would be proven empty. Law frowned at the disheartened expressions on the faces of his friends; if there was one thing that was sure to get them killed it was low morale. Thinking quickly he opened a supply box and pulled out a bunch of candles. He went to each man in the squad and gave them each a candle, lighting them as he went. Some gave confused stares, others said nothing. One man who opted to go by the nickname Penguin was the first to ask about it.

"Hey, Doc, what's with the candles? I thought they were for emergencies."

Law continued to pass out candles as he answered, "Fuck that." Everyone was staring now, wondering about the answer. "It's Christmas Eve we may as well start acting like it. The Kaiser promised we would be home by tomorrow, we all know that's not true so let's bring a little bit of home here." There were murmurs of agreement throughout as Law handed out the last candle to one of the youngest but also biggest soldiers there; a farm boy named Bepo who the others like to call 'The Polar Bear' on account of his size and nearly white platinum hair. Law stood in the middle of the group and lit his own candle gazing at all of their faces, now showing a bit of warmth.

"Let's sing a carol together, yeah?" Law suggested. There was a pause as the men looked around to each other waiting for someone to start them off. It was a corporal named Shachi who sang the first lyrics.

"Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht," the others began to join in once they recognized the song. "Alles schläft; einsam wacht..."

On the other side of No Man's Land the voices of the Germans could be heard as they sang their carol. The amalgamation of Scottish and English soldiers perked up at the sound and a piper by the name of Kid Eustace pulled out his pipes.

"Hey, Kid! What are you doing?" Called out one sergeant.

"What's the point in singing if y'eh haven't got music?" He replied as he quickly tuned his pipes. The Germans had only reached the second verse when Kid started to play along to the tune of the song and other men around the trenches began to sing along in English. Smiles started to appear on everyone's faces as more and more voices could be heard.

The Germans were briefly concerned when they heard the blaring of bagpipes thinking the Scots were preparing for attack. Their concerns vanished though, when they realized the music was matching their song. In response they began to sing louder and with more enthusiasm. When the song ended cheers rang out from both sides and was soon followed by another song from the pipes; this time it was O' Christmas Tree. The two groups went back and forth picking songs to sing and play. Sometimes it would be a song that did not translate well but everyone would try to sing along. Eventually people began to fall asleep and the singing and pipes died down as the Germans' candles flickered out.

On Christmas morning the sun peaked over the horizon and the first rays spilled into the trenches. Piper Kid found he was one of the first to wake up save for the few who had been on night watch. Taking a quick look around he stood up, propped up a ladder, and started climbing up to the surface. He paused when he heard his name being harshly wishpered.

"Kid! What the hell d'you think yer doin'?" It was Killer; at least that's what he called himself these days. His voice was muffled by the scarf wrapped tightly around his face but Kid would know the voice of his childhood friend anywhere.

"This bloody war is stupid. No way in hell am I fighting on Christmas Day. I heard some men down the line arranged for a truce today, so I'm trying the same here." Was Kid's reply before he went over the top. "Don't shoot!" He yelled as stood up at the edge of No Man's Land.

The Germans across the field were rightfully confused when they heard his shout. Clione, their squad's sniper grabbed a parascope to look over the top. He soon spotted Piper Eustace slowly walking towards them with his hands up in surrender calling out to them not to shoot.

"What is it, Clione?" Asked Shachi.

"I think it's the piper from last night?"

"How can you tell?" Penguin inquired.

"Well, he's wearing a kilt for one thing." Clione said.

"Let me see." Said Law as he took the parascope from Clione. He watched as Kid got closer and closer until he finally stopped about halfway across the field. Kid called out to them again as his peers could be heard calling him back to their trench.

"Look, ye'h haven't shot me yet so I take that as a good sign." He took off his glenngary cap and brushed a hand through his bright red hair. "I just want to talk is all. It's Christmas an' I know that means somethin' to ye'h just as it does to me."

Law passed the parascope back to Clione and went to grab a ladder ignoring the protests of his friends. Propping up the ladder he climbed up to No Man's Land calling back to the others to cover him if things went south. He showed his hands were empty and made sure the Red Cross on his arm was visible as he made his way toward the piper. Law stopped, leaving a few feet between himself and Kid and waited for the Scot to speak.

"Piper Kid Eustace, from Inverness, Scotland." He said as he extended his hand.

Law firmly shook his hand. "Doctor Law Trafalgar, from Düsseldorf, Germany."

"So, Doctor, the reason I'm out here is to ask for a truce. Maybe that'll show our annoying kings back home just what we think of this war dragging on."

Law smiled slightly, "Yes, Piper, I think that is a good idea." Law turned around to see a bunch of his friends popping their heads over the top of the trench and motioned for them to come out to No Man's Land. "Tell me Eustace, do you play football in Inverness?"

Kid broke out into a huge grin, "You bet your ass we do!" He eagerly waved over his fellows, "c'mon laddies! It's safe, we've got a truce!" One by one the Scots, Englishmen, and Germans all crossed into No Man's Land. Bepo brought a ball and got some men together to play a game of football using helmets as goal posts. Some men were content with trading rations and swaping stories from home. Law had other ideas though.

"Eustace, you were the one playing last night, yes? He asked.

"Aye, that was me. Why d'you ask?" Said Kid.

"The instrument you play, how do you call it in English? In German we call it dudelsack."

Kid burst out laughing, "What a silly name that is 'doodlesack'. They're called bagpipes. Wait here, I'll go get them and show you how to play." Kid ran back to the trenches got his pipes and came back to find Law sitting on a fallen tree. Kid sat with him and joyfully explained everything about the bagpipes. Law listened absolutely fascinated for well over an hour and gladly agreed when Kid offered the pipes to him to try. Law took a few depp breaths to inflate the bag and following Kid's instructions put the bag under one arm and began to squeeze it trying to play a note. All that came out was a high pitched squeek causing Law to snort in laughter. Kid joined in and some chuckles could be heard from some nearby soldiers.

"Well, Law, ye'h cleary don't play the pipes in your free time. What do ye'h do?" Kid asked as their laughter died down.

Law passed the pipes back to Kid, "I collect coins. Rare ones, limited edition, misprints, but the ones I like the most are commemorative coins." Law then took his turn talking about coins and Kid would occasionally mention some unusual coins he'd seen over the years.

A while later some men made a bonfire and complied some various rations to make a stew for all to share. The sun was beginning to set and many men sat around the fire eating. The heat of the fire being used to dry their socks and was so hit most men were just in their shirts, jackets sitting beside them. Law and Kid were enjoying their Christmas dinner by the fire when Kid noticed something shiny around Law's neck.

"That's a fancy necklace ye'h've got there." Said Kid motioning to it.

Law took it off and passed it to Kid. It was a locket made is silver on a heavy steel chain.

"May I?" Asked Kid making a motion to open the locket. Law nodded his approval. Kid opened the locket to see the picture of a young girl, no older than 7 by the looks of her.

"Wh-" Kid stopped mid word as a single gunshot rang out. A young English Captain by the name of Hawkins was standing near the edge of the trench his pistol aimed at Clione who fell the the ground, a bullet through his brain. No one moved for a brief moment.

"Rückzug!"* Yelled out Shachi. Without any hesitation everyone picked up their things as fast as they could and ran back to their respective trenches a few non essential items being left behind. Kid grabbed his pipes and jacket and bolted back to his trench. It wasn't until he was sat down on the duckboards that he realized he was still holding Law's locket.

A year passed and all the men were told anyone caught fraternizing with the Germans would be tried for treason.

**A/N**

Rückzug means "retreat" I figured they would instinctively use German under panic. Thanks to the guest who gave me this suggestion, I really appreciate it!

The song they're singing at the start is Silent Night incase you're wondering.

I swapped their names around to fit western name etiquette because well, it's a WWI AU so y'know, they're in the West.

Thanks for reading! I do have a part 2 planned for this but I'll only post it if this gets positive feedback. I won't write it if no one is interested. This is also my first One Piece fic but a lot of the stuff in here comes from the trivia pages. According to Oda in our world Law would be German, Kid and Killer would be Scottish and Hawkins would be English. Oda also said Law collects commemorative coins as a hobby. **Hope you enjoyed and even the most simple review would mean the world to me!**


	2. Reunion

It had been a year since the war ended. Kid stepped off the train and onto the platform, he took a brief look around before heading to a small information booth. Thankfully the woman working there spoke English so he quickly got a map and directions to the nearest hotel. As he walked to the hotel he took in the city. He'd never been to Germany before but his first impression of it was quite positive. At the very least it was warmer than Scotland.

It didn't take long to get to the hotel, maybe a ten minute walk. He checked in to a room and layed his map out on the floor using a pencil to circle all the hospitals and clinics. The closest one to his hotel was a children's hospital only a few blocks away. He decided that was where he would start his search in the morning.

When morning came Kid regarded the clothes he brought with him. He had planned to wear his dress uniform but figured it might be a spit in the face to the past German soldiers as the Treaty of Versailles essentially destroyed their military. Instead he opted to wear his kilt and his old dress jacket from before he enlisted. He would still stick out like a sore thumb but as long as he wasn't mistaken for a Canadian he didn't care. After getting dressed Kid grabbed a small notebook he and Killer had been working on for a while; it contained a number of German phrases and their translations. He tucked the notebook into his sporran and left the hotel, following his map to the children's hospital.

Kid arrived at the hospital soon enough and walked up to the reception desk. He looked at his notebook and asked a question he'd been waiting to ask for a long time.

"Kennen Sie doktor Trafalgar?" Kid asked hopefully. He cringed at his own accent and hoped his grammar was correct. It was a simple enough question, asking if they knew him. Kid figured if he asked enough people around Düsseldorf he'd eventually find someone who knew him. The receptionist looked at him quizzically for a moment before answering.

"Doktor Trafalgar? Nein."

Kid sighed, thanked the receptionist, and left the hospital. For the rest of the morning he went to clinics asking about the young doctor with the most information he got being a hurse who said the name sounded familiar. He looked at his map and realized he was only a few blocks away from the city's largest hospital. He made the short walk and entered the hospital with his hopes wearing thin. Walking up to the desk he asked the same question he'd been asking all morning. Before the receptionist could answer a passing medical student cut into the conversation.

"Did you say Doctor Trafalgar?" He asked. Kid looked at the student, he was very young, only a teen, he had brown hair and big round innocent looking eyes.

"Aye, that's what I said, laddie. Do ye'h know him?" Kid asked.

"Know him? He's my mentor!" The boy replied cheerfully. "I'm Dr. Tony by the way, but you can call me Chopper! What's your name?"

Kid held out a hand for Chopper to shake who gladly took it. "My name is Kid Eustace, I met Dr. Trafalgar during The War. I was wondering if ye'h know where I can find him? I have something that belongs to him."

Chopper smiled, "of course! He's not working today but I can write down his address for you. He doesn't live all that far from here, maybe a 10 minute walk. I'm sure he'd love to see an old friend!"

Kid smiled back, not fully believing how trusting this boy was but thankful for it nonetheless. "That would be great, thank ye'h, Chopper. Ye'h're very kind." Kid raised an eyebrow when the young doctor blushed and did a strange wiggly dance.

"Don't think complimenting me will make me happy you jerk." Chopper said in a cheery tone.

"Uhhh right..." Said Kid, "so about the address?"

Chopper snapped out of his daze, "oh right! Here you go." He said as he quickly wrote down the address on a scrap of paper and handed it to Kid who thanked him profusely before leaving.

Sure enough it only took 10 minutes to get to the house. Kid doubled checked the address just to make sure. The house didn't particularly look like the kind of home a doctor might own, it was small and almost rundown looking. Trusting in the young doctor from the hospital Kid approached the front door and knocked three times. He waited a moment before the door opened to reveal Law wearing a pair of blue jeans and a black knitted sweater. His black hair stuck up in all directions and there were dark circles under his eyes. The doctor's eyes widened when he realized who was standing at his door.

"Kid?" He asked, in shock.

"Hello, Law. Do ye'h have a minute to talk?"

Law smiled slightly and opened the door a bit wider, "yes of course! Please come in."

Kid stepped into the house and promptly removed his shoes before following Law into a small sitting room. Law gestured for him to sit down so he took a seat in an armchair his sporran sat between his knees. Law sat across from him on the couch, leaning back as he did.

"I must say, had I made a list of all the people I thought might visit me today you, Piper Eustace, would have been quite close to the bottom of my list." Law said with a smirk. "So, what brings you here, and how did you find my address?"

Kid let out a huff of a laugh, "well, I remember ye'h said yer from Düsseldorf, so I came here and I spent the morning going to every medical institution asking if anyone knew you when I finally ran into your student."

Law truly laughed at that, the prospect of Kid just asking people if they knew him in a city the size of Düsseldorf was ridiculous. "Ah yes, you mean young Mr. Tony. I suppose in Canada giving out someone's address is normal behaviour, I must speak to him about that."

Kid nodded in understanding. "Oh he's Canadian, that makes sense then; they're strange. Anyway, what I came here about is the little truce we had all those years ago."

"'Little truce' is one way of putting I suppose." Law chuckled.

Kid smiled slightly. "It is a bit of an understatement, isn't it?" Kid fiddled with the clasp on his sporran as he spoke. "Ye'h might remember that day ye'h showed me a locket with a photo of a little girl in it. Well, I realized when I got back to the trench I never gave it back."

Kid opened his sporran and pulled out a silver locket on a steel chain. He reached over to pass it too Law who took it with a shaking hand. Slowly and gently Law opened the locket to see the image of a little girl with pigtails and a blindingly bright smile, the same image Kid had looked at almost daily for the past 5 years wondering who the girl was.

Law felt tears pricking his eyes as he gazed at the photo with a shaking hand, his other hand covering his mouth in shock. He looked up at Kid in disbelief, his tears now running down his cheeks.

"I thought I'd lost this." Law said, a bit sadly. He turned the locket around to face Kid, "this is my little sister, her name is Lami. This is the only photo I have of her; you have no idea how grateful I am that you have brought this back to me."

Kid scratched the back of his head in a bashful gesture. "Well it was clear it was very important, it wouldn't'a been right for me to keep it." Kid fiddled with the clasp on his sporran again before asking a question he wasn't sure he should ask. "What happened to yer sister? Ye'h don't have to tell me if ye'h don't want to, of course."

Law's wistful smiled faltered slightly at the question. He cleared his throat before speaking. "She died, 16 years ago now. My parents were also doctors and they were conducting research that many people did not like. So, one night, someone decided to burn our house down. I told Lami to hide in her wardrobe while I went to get our parents but the fire spread too quickly and their bedroom was already on fire by the time I got there. The firefighters showed up and pulled me outside. I begged them to save my sister, they pulled her out but she had already been sick for a while and she breathed in too much smoke. This locket was the only picture of her that survived the fire; I have none of my parents."

Kid bowed his head. "I'm very sorry to hear that. I can't imagine what it's like to lose yer family like that."

"Don't be." Said Law with a grimace. "It was a long time ago and I know firsthand how dangerous holding on to the past can be. Now," Law said standing up, "I would like to thank you for coming all this way to return my locket. I am not much of a cook but there are many wonderful restaurants not far from here; let me buy you dinner and we can tell each other stories from the past 5 years."

Kid stood up as well and clapped a hand on Law's shoulder with a smile. "Now that sounds like a good plan."

And so he did. Law and Kid spent the rest of the day relaying what happened to them during the rest of the war and the year since. Law told of the work he was doing at the hospital as a heart surgeon and Kid told of the weapons shop he owned working as a blacksmith. Kid stayed in Germany for another week, just long enough to stay for the ceremony that was held to commemorate the anniversary of the armistice.

Law saw Kid off at the train station and the two went on to send frequent letters to each other. Then at Christmas of 1920, just over a year later, Kid found himself sitting in a tavern in Inverness with Killer, Law, and their friends from the trenches. The group got together every year, sometimes in Scotland, sometimes in Germany, and carried on their Christmas truce.

**Author's Note**

**Ah! I finally finished part two, sorry for the wait, I know it's been three weeks but this time of year is hectic. Thank you so much for your comments, they are the best Christmas gift I could ever ask for!**

**A few explanations for this chapter:**

**1\. The comment about Kid not wanting to be mistaken for a Canadian is based off of a quote from a captured German colonel who said this to his Canadian captors **"I don't care for the English, Scotch, French, Australians or Belgians but damn you Canadians, you take no prisoners and you kill our wounded."

**2\. In an SBS Oda said Kid would be a weapons merchant if he weren't a pirate, I just added the blacksmith part for fun. **

**3\. I tried to think of a real world illness for Lami to have had but I couldn't decide so I went with a fire because that's technically how she died in canon. **

**Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!**


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